#FF6600
Closet Spammer
31801
0
1
Mar 27, 2024 17:07:05 GMT -8
wildmaven
Fear the Flying Flocks of Fiery Fury!!
35,591
October 2004
wildmaven
Wildmaven's Mini-Profile
|
Post by wildmaven on Dec 11, 2019 12:13:56 GMT -8
Goodness, where do I begin? I first came here in 2004 to ask what the chick in "Love Shack" screams in the middle of the song. There are so many memories that this would be a "TLDR" post, but I'll list a few of them. I think the memories I cherish the most are the handful of members who still walk this earth instead of joining the darkness, members who either reached out to me or whom I saw a change in behavior and contacted. I consider myself truly blessed and honored to have helped them step back into the sun. There have been some pretty awful times here, though. Members who said awful things about me after a PM about them breaking the rules. Members who tried to trick everyone into believing they were at death's door, when in reality they were just trolling for kicks. There was even a personal rift among my family based on a misinterpretation of something I had written here. I have almost quit being moderator many times because of the tug of war that happens behind the scenes sometimes as we all try to do what is best for the business, but it has taught me to step back, breathe, and regroup. Admittedly, there has been a huge change from how it used to be on GT as some of the larger than life personalities have found other avenues for an audience, which is understandable but sad as I really enjoyed that dynamic. Also, as ProBoards grew, the admins became more removed from GT in order to get their jobs done, so we don't see the bigwigs playing with us as often. My original forum gained me a lot of long-time friends, but I've had to close it down recently as it finally ran its course. It was very hard to do, but it was time. I just hope the friendships I developed will survive without it. There were members who, after I announced I couldn't have kids, said they would love to be my adopted kids and that just melted my heart. And, I've seen a lot of you grow up, watched you learn your place in the world, and it was a privilege. As a two-time moderator, then global mod, I am ever thankful for your trust.
|
|
inherit
167837
0
Apr 30, 2013 15:32:12 GMT -8
leif
939
June 2011
akiglass
|
Post by leif on Dec 11, 2019 16:09:10 GMT -8
Also the legit wars of trying to get a 01 server domain name when in reality it meant nothing just for bragging rights. I got a 01 in 2002! I still have that board <3
|
|
#FF6600
125138
0
1
Mar 28, 2024 5:35:54 GMT -8
BEAST
53,732
May 2008
thebeast
iPokemon's Mini-Profile
|
Post by BEAST on Dec 14, 2019 23:23:18 GMT -8
So much seen and done in 18 years I wouldn't know where to start. This guy is definitely my worst ProBoards memory How are ya bud?! ProBoards was how I grew up. I joined my first forum that was hosted by a few friends from school when I was 13. Tried a few of my own. By 14, I found Support and signed up mainly because of General Talk. A couple of years making very naive and young-at-heart posts and threads, I found a place with an incredible community. I will always remember thoughts days, 2003 - 2008 very strongly. It was busy, filled with amazing people, and a lot of creativity. I could not name one best memory, because there were so many. Oh I remember... meeting you guys for real life, in London twice! Definitely a great experience to go from online to reality. Martyn always made me laugh. Chaz I remember them days well and made me chuckle when you mentioned it.
Pretty good and busy with life and travel cheers Chaz, how are you mate.
|
|
inherit
145609
0
Dec 13, 2013 21:59:46 GMT -8
Ameline
2,390
August 2009
yang
|
Post by Ameline on Dec 16, 2019 9:53:04 GMT -8
Proboards was my salvation as a teen. Not just this site but the role play sites I use to go on. I had lots of fun making characters and being creative with people from all kinds of backgrounds. I enjoyed debating even though I was usually wrong. I had a lot of stuff going on some of which still impact me but proboards helped soften the blow a little. It let me see there was a life beyond the dookie even though it didn't always seem like it.
Edit to add some memorable moments:
Some of the things that stick out were some of the shenanigans the mods and admins use to get into. Anyone remember that Halloween when they made it so that clicking someones avatar 'infected' them with the zombie virus. Or how sometimes the mods or admins would change their name and avatar to reflect a joke like "The Great Cinnamon roll"
Or the fun little storys members use to make up about events and other members of GT. Sort of like a light parody, it was fun.
Or the neck clicking guy.
The atmosphere was just a little different members, mods, and admins use to just come together more to to fun random things
That's not to say it was all sunshine here. There were times when I hated this place as much as home and wanted to quit. Mostly it was just problems with a few people who were just unnecessarily rude and did not seem to have any empathy. All in all it is a good place to learn and 'grow up'. It is sad coming on and realizing people you knew have passed on. I miss all my PB Grandma's. At least my PB mom is still kicking: Hi wildmaven ! Your not allowed to die ok.
|
|
inherit
20332
0
Dec 17, 2023 12:30:22 GMT -8
Vu1canF0rce
728
February 2004
daviper
|
Post by Vu1canF0rce on Dec 23, 2019 10:39:33 GMT -8
Come 1/1/20 I'll have been with ProBoards for 15 years, 10 months, and +/- 15 days. Wow! Just wow how time flies! I browsed before becoming a member so a bit longer than even this.
As many have mentioned, I share in that ProBoards was part of my formative teenage years and beyond. I met so many people, ran and helped on so many forums, and generally saw a lot of the world through the lenses of a forum software. True that forums are not as popular as they once were compared to competing social media alternatives, there's still a certain charm and place for forums that cannot be replaced.
I survived the meltdown, the successive versions of ProBoards software from v2 till now, and many a cherished members come and go (remember Cali anyone?). Although I'm much older with vastly different priorities in life, ProBoards will always hold a special place in my heart. Kind of like the feelings and memories of your first car or girlfriend/boyfriend.
Here's to another 20 years ProBoards!
Andrew
|
|
inherit
Head of the Emu Preservation
Head of the Emu Farmers Association
13398
0
Jul 12, 2020 14:15:37 GMT -8
Joshua Farrell
7,962
September 2003
dentist
|
Post by Joshua Farrell on Dec 24, 2019 14:31:35 GMT -8
Oh what a time. I originally registered my first account on this forum, and on my own forum, shortly after my 13th birthday, back at the end of May 2001 (probably early into June, as I might have created the first account the day I got off of school for summer break). I learned over time that some things shouldn't be taken seriously when debating with others, and the other stuff should have some thought put into it before posting, so nothing gets back at you for something stupid you didn't mean to post. There are some members I wish were still around, and wished I was still as involved now, as I was way back then.
|
|
Former Member
inherit
guest@proboards.com
259499
0
Mar 28, 2024 6:10:06 GMT -8
Former Member
0
January 1970
Former Member
|
Post by Former Member on Dec 25, 2019 14:35:24 GMT -8
Actually, that's a funny thing because I don't quite remember what is my fondest memories of Proboards. However, I've been on the Proboards world (creating forums and all) since around the late 2000's. All the ones that I have made in the years that have made some are now gone... except for one I've made in 2010 and the other one not a long time ago.
Really, it didn't quite affect me but- it really made me love to create forums and Proboards was perfect to do so and because it was free (like today and always)! Like I've said previously I have taken mostly all the forums I have created through the years (the first ones I don't remember) which one was The Simpsons, one was Greek Mythology and one was Facebook, Fanfiction, FictionPress (or something like that). So these also went down because they were mostly empty for years. But! There's two that I'm keeping for sure (I mentioned which years above in the fondest memories question).
|
|
inherit
Oh Yeah!
66974
0
Nov 16, 2012 23:56:59 GMT -8
Will
secretly a moderator
10,093
December 2005
willembahh
|
Post by Will on Dec 27, 2019 5:22:01 GMT -8
playing around on Proboards back in the day gave me the skills I needed to make a pretty sweet myspace page.
|
|
inherit
39202
0
Oct 22, 2023 17:31:59 GMT -8
Minime
1,976
March 2005
minime098710
|
Post by Minime on Dec 30, 2019 14:15:17 GMT -8
Reiterating on what Helen and Smush said in their posts, there was a solid community here between the times of 2004-2006ish, of which I have the most tremendous amount of affection for. From hours long AIM chats with people about utter nonsense, to reading lively and interesting points of views on the forum, to getting to know different members individually - it all formed for the first community I was a part of, and my lonely teenage self was extremely appreciative of something it didn’t know it needed at that time. I don’t have one particular fond memory, but more a fondness of that little period of time and more importantly, the people during that time - a couple of which I still consider great friends that have transcended the “just online friends”, even after more than a decade of friendship. It wasn’t my entire teenage experience, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have a impact of sorts on it, and for that I am pleasantly grateful.
I was also really quite fond of the rule stating “no threads about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches” - da good ole days.
|
|
inherit
96289
0
May 17, 2020 9:37:00 GMT -8
elli
1,822
January 2007
ebbymac
|
Post by elli on Dec 30, 2019 16:55:25 GMT -8
Share your fondest memories of ProBoards with us.
I don't have a lot of specific memories, but the years I spent roleplaying under various fandoms are pretty nostalgic. I try to forget what I specifically wrote, what characters I "played", and some of the plots I followed... because huge cringe... it was fun at the time, I've just grown out of it. Roleplaying helped improve my general knowledge of writing and grammar, so that's a bonus.
The graphics and coding forums from v3/v4 are good memories, too. Studio Zero, Slightly Insane, SolidSnake Designs, SoCal, and a few others. I met good friends on those forums.
How did ProBoards affect your life?
ProBoards sparked my interest in design and coding. I wanted to make my own forum and have it look good, so the next logical step was picking up the skills to make that happen. It took a few years, but I got pretty good with those skills and now I'm a front-end developer. ProBoards is a big contributor to my career and success.
|
|
inherit
GO NOW Welcome to Pain
145851
0
Nov 2, 2022 12:05:16 GMT -8
Syko Nachoman
let it all go at once, not piece by piece, but like a whole bucket of stars dumped into the universe
14,479
August 2009
sykonachoman
|
Post by Syko Nachoman on Dec 30, 2019 17:47:53 GMT -8
I like to do things in chronological order, so I will: Pre-V2: Became Support mod alongside Craig; temporarily achieved status as the #1 post count on the forum (with fewer than 1,000 posts!), but suffice it to say that didn't list long 2003-2004: PB explodes in popularity, and I remember making about 4,000 posts in the span of a year circa 2003. Renegade's PB comics and interviews dominate GT culture, and I even had the honor of being interviewed at some point. 2005-2006: I discover the AIM chat and become modestly active, though I don't develop the deep connections that some here did because, for the first few years, I mostly just went there to make random jokes (as is my custom). Around 2005, my forum's activity had died down to the point where I shut it down and joined the odd ranks of active PBGT users who didn't actually run a PB forum. 2006: Cannot delete2007: WFT2009: I triumphantly return from a two-year absence with a more mature mindset. Note: Your definition of "mature" may differ drastically from mine. 2010: The big year. I become GT president, establish my cabinet, participate in several Mafia games, reconnect with + make several friends, and begin using the GT chat for actual discussion and getting to know people. This was my high point in GT. 2011: I participate in the Board404 splinter movement, which partially diverts my attention away from GT for a big chunk of the year. I also attend a small meet in downtown Philadelphia with Seppy and bagheera, the first GT members I met in person. 2012: I channel my creativity into ProBoards-based puns. 2013: Everyone leaves and the AIM chat room dies out. Sad times. Fortunately, there is more joke book to help lighten the mood. 201?: I participate briefly in the v5 Alpha. I don't remember when exactly this was, but the year almost certainly started with "201." I am the proud catcher of at least one bug/security issue that I can remember finding. 2016: My second small GT meetup, with Phaelyn, RedBassett, and Tommy Huynh present. Either I have amnesia, or nothing GT-related has happened in my life since then. I need to make more things happen. PBGT was my go-to forum for most of my teenage years, as well as the earliest part of my early 20s. It started out as an outlet for my creativity and weird jokes, then became a place to make friends, and then returned to being an outlet for my creativity and weirdness as most of those said friends gradually disappeared. I dated a member for a few years, which resulted in a lot of fun memories, personal growth, and mild knowledge of other cities that I otherwise wouldn't have visited (I didn't include this above, as most of our communication took place away from GT). As for my daily routine, I remember back around 2010, when I was super into GT, such that it was the first place I'd go when I came home from classes/work, I'd spend at least an hour here every night, and I even began waking up 15 minutes earlier so that I'd have time to visit this place in the morning before heading out to school/work. I would even worry about going to bed too early because I didn't want to miss out on anything funny or interesting that might happen in the AIM chat. (FOMO before it became a hashtag!?) I kind of miss my GT addiction, because nights spent reading books or watching Twitch streams just don't bring the same amount of excitement. Then again, it is nice to have other things to look forward to when I come home besides "Maybe my thread got some interesting replies!"
|
|
inherit
167837
0
Apr 30, 2013 15:32:12 GMT -8
leif
939
June 2011
akiglass
|
Post by leif on Dec 31, 2019 14:32:02 GMT -8
Thank you everyone for showing and telling us about how ProBoards touched your life! It is inspiring to see it has done so much for you! So VS Admin, speech? (chants *speech speech speech*)
|
|
inherit
17836
0
Mar 25, 2024 9:54:18 GMT -8
daniel
27,203
December 2003
danielsmith
|
Post by daniel on Dec 31, 2019 15:36:07 GMT -8
Cheers to Patrick and the Proboards team on 20 years!
I've made a good number of friends, especially during GT's heyday. It's been great getting to know a lot of the regulars here, something that has had a decent impact on my worldviews and my ability to better relate to people. There's a good bit of sadness that forums have been overshadowed by Facebook, Instagram, and others. But, here we are. We can keep it going as long as there's a handful of us left.
|
|
inherit
167837
0
Apr 30, 2013 15:32:12 GMT -8
leif
939
June 2011
akiglass
|
Post by leif on Jan 3, 2020 16:12:55 GMT -8
Happy 20 years ProBoards! Welcome to the roaring 20s!
|
|
inherit
88478
0
Mar 27, 2024 6:34:08 GMT -8
Robyn
22,549
September 2006
millsberryfanrob
|
Post by Robyn on Jan 7, 2020 8:03:23 GMT -8
1. Share your fondest memories of ProBoards with us. . I came at a time when social media hadn't taken over my age's internet time yet. So there was always a lot of discussion, lots of fun and lots of debates. I'll be honest I don't "remember" a lot from my active days at ProBoards, but I can categorize my time here in several sections or layers. 1. Millsberry gaming A very long time ago, General Mills cereal company announced a website role playing game for kids called Millsberry. It actually had roots in a previous online website game called youruleschool which I had been to previously and it was a much more static experience. So there's this new website and I check it out. It's really cool and unique and so I sign up and become very active. Of Course I wanted to find fellow gamers in this culture and discovered a ProBoards forum that was filled with community. Somehow I discovered pro boards website through the forum and stumbled upon the general talk forum through there. I promoted mills berry and mostly stayed inactive but this was such a fun time in my youth, away from my toxic upbringing and a way to experience being a kid. 2. Religious phase There were other minor phases between Millsberry and my dedication to the religion I was involved with .These were when I got into computer gaming (coding and designing them), website hosting and early YouTube video making. But they were not the major cultural shift that I may have participated in or contributed to. No, rather it was my sudden involvement in defending my faith at all costs (though limited by internet culture) that I consider this to be a major part of my time here. I had an interesting view of life... I recognized and enjoy video games, movies, science, bad humor and was more or less open minded... but I was also at an age in my church where they started really digging into you to become a believer, to prepare to be a believing adult and so on. I started to figure out that while others in my church were more social and thus hung out with non believers to persuade them to join, I could use the internet (and thus, GT) to maybe convince people my church was the best. Certainly no issues on the surface, but to this day I still feel guilty for the amount of stress, rudeness, guilt and trolling that I made and caused from my insistence of my religion, my very limited and closed minded attitude toward politics and so on. Trust me, I'm approaching my 30s now (was in my teenage years at the time) and have had a 180 degree turn in opinions and preferences. I served a two year service mission for my church and that actually started to break me. Sure, I was convinced my church was true (and there's nothing wrong with that inherently), but I was also convinced that I had the responsibly to give all people the chance to hear about it. that was how I was raised, and what I believed was my most important duty. However, I also started to learn that my church had a very long and complex history (like many churches and countries) and started to doubt. Certainly didn't help meeting my wife who was very different minded, and having a kid during financial crisis also didn't help. Quickly realized how much we were on our own and had to make or break our happiness. Now I identify in the LGBT community (which I used to publicly denounce on GT), am no longer religious or believing, and am actually finding happiness with my family and my career and education. It's still rough, but im so glad to have made GT part of this experience. 3. Inactive phase Now I'm so busy with raising a family and cleaning our home that I don't really think about posting or checking up on not just GT but most of my sites anymore. I just don't have time, my kid requires my attention and honestly life still exists. There are mountains to climb, rivers to swim in and an education I want to obtain. I certainly enjoy my semi weekly check in with GT, but it's just not going to be the same anymore. 2. How did ProBoards affect your life? I covered this a bit above. Proboards, rather GT taught me to be open minded and to question everything. I remember having religious and political debates on issues from gay marriage to Obama's origins and constantly was being "proven" wrong by members with research and sites sourced. I came from a religious conservative family that had toxic issues that resulted in me being told that my father was smart and always right and to obey him always. This led me to listen to his opinion and take it as fact point blank. When I'd approach GT with"my" opinions, I'd get shut down quickly and struggled to accept the proof I was given. It was very rough, but im so grateful for it now because my wife came from a liberal mindset and her arguments forced me to decide what I actually wanted to believe. It wasn't always about politics and religion. GT taught me to discover who I was, was always there to help me with coding questions. Truly, ProBoards and GT were a part of my life that I am grateful for. Thank you for being a part of it, I'm sorry for the grief I caused as an oblivious teenager and I hope to continue to make memories while I'm still here. Happy 2020 PB, happy new decade.
|
|